Seattle considers banning plastic straws

The City of Seattle could ban plastic straws and other plastic to-go ware as soon as July 2018.

Author:
Jenna Hanchard

Published:
5:07 PM CDT August 27, 2017

Updated:
5:07 PM CDT August 27, 2017

The City of Seattle could ban plastic straws and other plastic to-go ware as soon as July 2018.

The ban is part of an ordinance that passed in 2010 and phases out various plastic products. Each year the city revisits the list of plastic items they want to phase out.

“In 2017 we started to look at what’s on that list that we wanted to phase out that’s more readily available and compostable, and so straws and plastic utensils are now way more available as compostable options,” said Becca Fong, a spokesperson with the City of Seattle.

Many restaurants like Juicy Café in Columbia Tower have already swapped out plastic straws for compostable ones as well as a few other items, such as forks, spoons, and lids.

“It feels kind of good you know what I mean. There’s just so much trash out there,” said Tara Sedor.

Other restaurants like Kidd Valley are in the process of phasing out their plastics.